The Day the Zoo Was a Zoo.

In the winter, the Hogle Zoo offers a free-day once a month.

I took the kids once, a few years ago.  It was miserable, and packed with people.  But you know me, I never learn.  This time, in fact, I decided to share the misery.

I called my sister, parents, and brother; and invited them along!

Parking was non-existent.  I ended up finding a space about three-quarters of a mile away, UP the canyon.

It was standing-room-only at the zoo that day.  Maneuvering the stroller was difficult.

But the kids were able to see some animals.  And the weather was nice.

 When Cohen had the phone, he took a lot of pictures of his feet:

 My Mom was pretty good sport about all of the hiking.

 I don't know what I'll do when Cohen isn't content to chill in the stroller anymore?!

We ended up exiting the Zoo at the upper gate, so that we were closer to our car.  My brother was merciful, and walked with my girls.  I pushed Cohen, in the stroller.  About halfway up the hill, the girls took a detour, and decided to play.  Brian stayed with them.  That left me, to continue pushing the stroller.  By the time I made it to my car I was sweaty and gross.  I figured that two workouts in one day aren't a bad thing.

We ended up going to City Creek.  And we met my Dad for dinner.  The kids played some more, on the dinosaur playground.
It was a total "kid" day.

Nick Grows Up. (A Little Bit).

When Nick bought the Mini Cooper, in 2009 I thought it was a fun car.  For about 1 week.  I didn't like driving it.  It was too low to the ground, and there were too many blind-spots for my taste.

He put a lot of money in to a car that our family outgrew a year after it was purchased.  But I (mostly) bit my tongue, when it came to the modifications of the Mini.  It wasn't all bad.  It got me a vacation to California, when Nick took it to Irvine to have it "tuned" by a specialist.  And Nick spent a lot of quality time with his Dad, working on the Mini.

But about 6 months ago, I really started to loathe that automobile.  My MDX was getting more than it's fair share of wear and tear.  It was racking up the miles, because it was our primary vehicle.  Sometimes we'd take the truck places, but it always costs a small fortune in gas to do that.

And there sat the Mini.  In the 5 years that we owned it Nick only put 30,000 miles on it.

He couldn't drive it in the snow.

He couldn't drive it on family outings.

I wanted it gone.

When I was 21, I sold my Mitsubishi Eclipse to a 17 year old girl.  When she came to test-drive it she couldn't even shift it in to first gear.  Her Dad ended up doing the test-drive.

I was surprised when she said she wanted to buy it.  Considering that she couldn't drive a 5-speed?  She offered me asking price.  Sold.

I was only a partially-stupid 21 year old.  I typed up my own bill of sale, and had it notarized when the deal was done.

I met 17 year old girl, and parents; and a Wells Fargo bank.  It's where she was doing the financing for the car.  It was a Saturday, and they told me that the loan officer didn't work Saturdays.  That the check for my car was in a locked drawer in her desk, and that they'd mail it to the financial institution where my car loan was, to pay it off, first thing Monday.

OK. 

17 year old girl took the car, and I got a ride home with my Mom.  Two weeks later... I received a phone call from 17 year old girl's father.  He said that the transmission had dropped out of the Eclipse, and that the bank had accidentally mailed the check to their house, instead of sending it to my bank.  Essentially, he was threatening to hold the check ransom, until I paid to have the transmission fixed.

Yeah.  Not going to happen.

I paid a lawyer $50 for a consultation, and he told me that: since I had the bill of sale; and since the damage had occurred while in her possession- 17 year old girl, and parents; didn't have a legal leg to stand on.

I wrote a letter to 17 year old, and explained what the lawyer had told me.  17 year old refused to sign for the letter.  So, I hand-delivered it to her house (that was nerve-wracking!).

Still no response.

I sent the same letter to the Wells Fargo; and guess what?!  It got the ball rolling.

The were profusely apologetic.  They cut a new check, and made sure to include extra funds to cover the interest that had accrued.

Even thought the situation worked out in my favor, I vowed to never again sell a car by owner. I wanted to avoid all hassle, and after that I always did a trade-in.

Nick and I had many a "discussion" during the month of February, about what to do with the Mini cooper.  He wanted to sell it on KSL.  I didn't.

He wanted to follow in the footsteps of his brother, Nate; and Dad: and buy an Acura TL from out-of-state; since they were more affordable in other states.

We bought the Mini off of eBay motors.  So, I wasn't scared of doing it again.

But I was dead-set against selling the Mini on our own.

I know I was making Nick crazy.  Like usual.

But I wasn't going to budge, when it came to what to do with the Mini Cooper.

At one point, it seemed that we had reached a stalemate.  But the thought of the Mini continuing to sit in our garage, depreciating in value- daily, and paying the insurance on it.... put me over the edge!  I told Nick to get rid of it.  The end.

As I mentioned, Nick really wanted an Acural TL.  But he test drove a newer body style, and there wasn't enough head-room for him.  I have no idea how he fits in a Mini Cooper, but not an Acura TL?!

Anyway, he ended up driving an Acura TSX (smaller version of the TL), and he fit in it, just fine.  Where's the logic here?!

There were two TSX's at dealerships near our house.  Nick ended up buying one from a surprisingly classy dealership in Roy, UT.

Bye Bye, Mini Cooper:

 Hello, Acura TSX:

I am so pleased to have a car that fits our entire family.  It gets better gas mileage than the mini cooper!  And has the technology package, which is pretty cool.

I asked Nick if he was sad about getting rid of his Mini.  And he surprised me when he said, "No".  He said it's about time he grew up.

Now, if I could just get him to have the same attitude when it comes to his juvenile t-shirts.  Ha!

Reagan/School Update

Here's the rundown:
The principal at Reagan's school was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  Reagan still doesn't have an IEP in place, but I figure I can cut the administration a little slack, and show some compassion, all things considered.
Another reason I have been patient is because Reagan has had an Autism Specialist from the district assigned to be her aide.
Kristin Bright has been with Reagan full-time for 30 days, and what a difference it has made!  Things at school have been better, and things at home have been better.

Last year at this time, Reagan was doing really well.  So, I wonder if the end of winter/beginning of spring is just a good time for her?  Whatever the cause, I'll take it!

Last week was a roller-coaster ride, for sure, though.
To begin with, Reagan's teacher has still been in the line of fire.  Since the beginning of the year, I had been trying to "back her play".  I spoke positively about her, to the principal. 
Reagan's teacher started calling me at home, more and more often.  At first, I was very sympathetic.  I kept telling her to hire a lawyer.  All of my suggestions fell on deaf ears.
Eventually, I started feeling like I wanted to avoid her calls. 
Around parent-teacher conference time, things really started to go downhill.  Reagan's behavior in the classroom had improved 110%, but I felt like her academic instruction was really lacking.

Reagan's teacher told me that she had been suspended without pay for 3 days.  I think it really got to her.  She started acting like a completely different teacher.  She started being so short with the kids.  And was showing a temper.  This wasn't, at all, the demeanor she had at the beginning of the year.
It was confusing for the kids to have a teacher that went from being easy-going, to all of the sudden; taking away recess time at the drop of a hat.
Reagan's aide had  told me that she wasn't confident that Mrs. Olsen would be able to maintain the parameters that had been put in place, to help Reagan with her behavior.  It left me feeling very worried.  Especially because Reagan's aide's last day with Reagan was 2/14.

It all came to a head, the day I went in to teach my first lesson for Junior Achievement, on 2/13.
The morning started out fine.  I pulled out one of my suits.  It's been years since I've worn one!  Like, since before Reagan was born.  I was actually thrilled that it still fit.

And then I headed down to the school.

I was hanging out in Reagan's classroom for about 30 minutes, before Reagan's teacher had me start with my lesson.  I was observing what was going on, and it was so different from the other times I had been in the class.  Reagan's teacher was acting so harsh!
When it was finally my turn, Mrs. Olsen interrupted me a couple of times, and was "teaching over me".  I was mildly irritated, because I felt like I had control of the situation.
Anyway, at the end of my lesson I decided to stick around.  Reagan had been acting very well-behaved while I was there.

At the beginning of class, I had observed one girl walk over and get a tissue.  I took notice, because the tissue box had been moved from where it was the last time I had been in the class.
From across the room, I noticed that Reagan was wiping her nose, and I signaled to her, to get a kleenex.  She got out of her seat, and headed in that direction....  And Mrs. Olsen jumped all over Reagan!

She sternly told Reagan to put the tissue back, and return to her seat.  She told Reagan to ask permission before she got a tissue.  All the while, Reagan had snot on her nose.
I was in shock, and was starting to get angry.
Especially, when Mrs. Olsen didn't apologize, after I told her it was my fault.

Reagan's Aide pulled me out in to the hall and asked me if I had any questions for her? We had a chat.  And I told her that I was really worried about how things were going to go after she was gone.  I also told her that Reagan still didn't have an IEP, and she was shocked to learn that.
When we were done talking I decided to "pop in" on the Principal, to see why things were taking so long, with Reagan's IEP?

Imagine my surprise, when I got to her office, and she told me that she had just been about to call me.
She told me that Reagan's Aide had observed the other Kindergarten Class, and that she felt it would be a better environment for Reagan.
I think the Principal expected to encounter resistance from me, since I've been such an advocate of Reagan's teacher in the past.
The principal was quick to add that if Reagan went to the other class, she'd have her aide with her for another 30 days.
That was the kicker!  I was sold.
Considering how much progress Reagan has made with Ms. Bright, and the fact that my observations of Mrs. Olsen lately haven't been favorable; I considered this move to be the lesser of the two evils.  So to speak.
I have concerns about Reagan moving classes with only 3 months left in the school year.  The kids in Mrs. Olsen's class have been so accepting of her.  I worry that she won't be so well received in the new class.
I'm just going to have to pray that things go well.

After I spoke to the Principal, that day, I went home and told Nick about what had happened.
Then, I got a text from Mrs. Olsen.  And two phone calls.
When I called her back she just kept saying how disappointed she was with me, and that I was just helping the Principal build a case against her.

I felt like it was a very upsetting conversation.  I told Mrs. Olsen that the move hadn't been my idea.  And I told her that I thought it would be in Reagan's best interest to have Ms. Bright for another 30 days.  Mrs. Olsen didn't agree.

That night, I sat down and wrote Mrs. Olsen a letter.  I told her that I appreciated what she had done for Reagan at the beginning of the year.  And that I wanted to remember the good things.
The following day, was Valentine's Day.
When I picked Reagan up from school, the first thing Reagan's teacher asked me  was whether I had told Reagan that she was moving to another class?
I responded in the affirmative.  I wanted to give Reagan (Miss, I have a hard time with change) time to get used to the idea.
Mrs. Olsen told me that Reagan had "checked out of things", because she knew she was moving; and that Reagan had misbehaved the entire day.

Ms. Bright wasn't in class with Reagan that day, so I couldn't get her to corroborate Mrs. Olsen's comment.  But when I picked Reagan up, she was following direction, etc..  So, I doubted what Mrs. Olsen had to say.  I felt like she was just having sour grapes.
I bit my tongue, but I wanted to say: "that if I hadn't told Reagan, I was sure she probably would have heard Mrs. Olsen discussing it with the parents in the classroom, since I knew she had been telling other parents that Reagan was leaving".  My neighbor had asked me about it, the day before.  Mrs. Olsen had told her.

While I was standing there trying to be nice, another parent in the room, heard the conversation, and asked if Reagan was moving classes?
Mrs. Olsen answered, and said: "Yes.  SUPPOSEDLY, the Principal is pushing for this move".  She made it very clear that she didn't believe I had, had nothing to do with it.

By that point, I was so over it.  It has been such an emotionally charged situation!  And I really did appreciate everything Mrs. Olsen did for Reagan at the beginning of the year.
I started to cry a little bit.
I left.

Later that day, Mrs. Olsen texted me, and left a Voicemail on my phone.  She read my letter, and she said she was sorry I was upset, but I felt like she still thought I was a traitor.

At that point, I was done being nice.
All weekend, I honestly hoped that she would call again, so that I could take the "kid-gloves" off, and tell her how I really felt.
Specifically, that she has been a different teacher the past month, than she was prior; and not in a good way.  That I feel like she isn't handling the stress well, and it's to the kids' detriment.
That as much as I liked her, Reagan's well being is paramount to me; and moving her is what will be best.

She didn't call. 
But it doesn't mean that this conversation won't happen.
Only time will tell.

So, off in to the unknown.  Yet again.
Here's hoping that my girl keeps her happy/goofy face:



And maybe we'll get that damn IEP in place before the school year ends!

Everything is Awesome! Everything is Cool, When You're Part of a Team!

Presidents Day.  Nick had to work.
My sister proposed that we all go see the new LEGO Movie.  I thought it would be great!
I kept waffling about making a decision to take Cohen, or not.
In the end, I decided to include Cohen, and take him to his first movie in the theater.
Mistake.
He wandered up and down the aisle, and actually sat in a seat for the first half of the movie.  But when he was done, he made it very obvious that he was D.O.N.E.
I was at one end of the row, and my Mom was on the other end.  A fussy Cohen made his way to his Grandma, and I thought he calmed down.
I finished watching the movie, with both of the girls on my lap, in peace.

For the record, I thought the movie was fantastic!  Two thumbs up.  The girls liked it too.
When it was over, I looked down the aisle, and saw that my Mom's seat was vacant.  Apparently, she ended up taking Cohen out of the theater, and we found them outside playing.
I felt awful that my Mom had to miss the end of the movie!
I'll rent it on redbox, and take it to her house for a movie night, when it's available to rent.

After the movie, the kids played in the Courtyard at Farmington Station.

It was a great day!

Other items worth mentioning:

I've FINALLY convinced Nick to get rid of the Mini Cooper!  Can I get a "hallelujah"?!

It's just not a practical car for our family.

He's decided he'd like to buy an Acura TL, instead.  I am A-O-K with that.  When he got home from work on President's day, I sent him off to a dealership to test drive a TL.  I sent the checkbook with him, and told him to buy the car, if he liked it.  He came home and told me that the car he liked had been sold.  Darn!  So, we're still keeping our eyes peeled for a good deal.

Oh, and if anyone is the market for a vehicle that gets excellent gas-mileage, is fun to drive, etc... Consider buying our Mini Cooper Convertible.

Moving on... As far as Valentine's Day goes, in our house it doesn't really register on the radar.  Of course, I helped the girls do Valentine's to take to their classes.  But Nick and I never do anything to celebrate the "holiday".  It doesn't bother me.

This year, however, we did break with tradition, and we went out to lunch.  We had nothing else going on, and my Mom said she'd watch the kids, so we figured, why not?!  We ate at Twigs (an "upscale" restaurant in Farmington Station).  It's the second time I've been there, and it was just as big of a letdown this time, as it was the first time I patronized it.  Nick hit the nail on the head when he said: "If I'm going to pay $75 for a meal, next time it's going to be at a high-class sushi joint".  Twigs just isn't anything great, and certainly not worth the price.

Cohen!

Gah!  Some days this little boy's naughtiness knows no end!  He is a mini-Nick.  He takes nothing seriously.  Especially discipline.  Believe me, he pulled off this antic 100% by himself.  After I caught him like this, I have been using masking tape to keep the oven door closed.

He is the quintessential youngest child.  He just wants to be funny!  When he and Elsa pair up, forget about it...  They can get in to mischief faster than I can snap my fingers.

It doesn't help that he is a climber, and finds a way to climb anything!

When I catch him doing something he shouldn't be, and I get after him; he walks up to me and gives me a hug.  To me, this indicates that he has a basic knowledge of right and wrong.  But his big brown eyes melt my heart, and the fact that he still likes to cuddle with me, leads me to cut him a lot of slack.

I am guilty of being less strict with my youngest child, and I know it.

Apologies to Reagan.  Being the oldest child is hard (I have firsthand knowledge of this).  But in my defense, I am doing the best that I can.

And I HATE that Cohen is getting bigger every day.  I hate that all of my kids are!

I had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he was too big for the crib/toddler bed.  I put-off taking it down for as long as I could.  I didn't want to admit that I no longer had a baby in the house.

But eventually, I had to bite the bullet.

After nearly six years of continuous use, I dismantled the crib, and gave it to my brother.

When we were in Seattle, in October, an elderly man approached us, at one point.  He looked at Nick and I wrangling our three kids, and said: "this is the best time of your life".

I think about what he said, CONSTANTLY.  And I totally agree with him.

Of course, Cohen transitioned to a big-boy bed easily. 

I wish I could transition as easily as he does!  Why can't time just stay still, sometimes?!

The Way February Has Proceeded.

February is my least favorite month of the year.  I hate winter weather, and February always arrives and seems to taunt me.  February makes it seem like spring will never arrive.

This February we haven't done too much outside of the house.

We did have a family appointment at the dentist.  We love our dentist.  His office is in the Sugarhouse area of SLC.  This trip, everyone came away cavity free!

So, we treated the kids to a visit to the planetarium, and had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen.  We were the only party in the restaurant, and we were there during the (usually busy) lunch hour.  Yes, since the City Creek mall opened, the Gateway Mall is definitely hurting. 

For two+ weeks I had been fighting a nasty cold-like bug.  The day after our dentist appointment I finally broke down and made an appointment to see the doctor.

Oh yeah, I had pneumonia.
I went to Nick's new pharmacy to get my prescription filled.  Isn't his new store downright attractive?!:

My physician gave me a Z-pack, and some heavy-duty cough syrup.  I started on the antibiotics, and truly expected to feel a lot better the next day.  No such luck.  The following day I felt even worse!  I suffered through the weekend, and by Monday I felt more like I was suffering from a really bad cold, and less like I was going to die.  I deemed it improvement.
It's been a month now, and I still have a lingering cough; but am feeling much better.

On Feb. 13th my Mom called and said that there was going to be a birthday celebration at my Grandma's house, and that she and my Dad were leaving in 15 minutes to attend.  Thanks for the advanced notice, Mom!  Ha Ha.  It was my Grandma's 85th birthday!  So, of course, I packed my kids up (Nick was working), and headed to Grantsville.
My kids love going to my Grandma's house.  It was definitely my favorite destination, when I was a kid.
We filled my Grandma's house to the brim, and only about half of the family was there!  It was such an enjoyable evening.  We had a cake, decked out with 85 candles!

My Grandma may be 85, but she could easily pass for 60.  She is sharp as a tack, and is always so well put-together.  She is always smartly dressed, and can converse on any topic.

I love my Grandma!

New Floor

Two years ago, Nick tiled the floor in our kitchen.

It ended up costing us around $600.

Imagine my dismay, when shortly after we had the floors installed, the grout started coming up, and the tiles started cracking.

The best we can figure is that the cement compound under the tiles was a bad batch.

Over time, my floors went from looking nice, to looking like garbage.

At first, I bought a rug to hide the trouble spots.

Then I bought a second, bigger rug.

But eventually, there was no hiding it.  The floors were crap.

The final straw was when Reagan cut her hand on a broken piece of tile she picked up.

I did a lot of research on different types of flooring.  I needed something budget-friendly, and something that DIY novices could handle.

Lumber liquidators had a product that fit the bill.  So, I purchased it, and we got to work.

Nick did most of the demo work.

The existing tile came up with very little effort.

The hardest part was getting the backer-board out.  Nick spent a lot of time on that.

Then, I set about removing the paste from the sub floor, leftover from the 1980's vinyl flooring that had initially been in the kitchen.

The sub-floor was finally prepped, and ready.
Over the next 3 days I spent about 8 hours installing the floor in our 100 square foot kitchen.  The most time-consuming part was cutting the planks to fit in the nooks and crannies around the kitchen, and in the pantry.

But I felt such a sense of accomplishment when it was finally done!

Sure, it's a bamboo pattern, that's directly next to the real wood flooring in my dining room.  Clash!

It didn't do anything to boost the attractive factor of my kitchen.  I'm still living with Formica countertops, and the orange oak cabinets.  But it is a definite improvement.

And at .49 cents/square foot, I'm not going to cry if it only lasts 5 years.  All told, I put new flooring in my kitchen for less than $75.

And I did it myself.

The Biggest Parenting Mistake I've Made, To Date.

I broke Elsa and Cohen of their binky habits, at the same time, over the summer.

I threw some away.  But, every time I've stumbled across one in the house, when I'm cleaning; I've put it in the cabinet above the stove.  Pretty soon, there was quite a collection.  Cohen hid pacifiers all over the house!

In December, one of Nick's workweeks when he worked all nights, Cohen and I ended up getting sick.
One night, I was so tired, and Cohen wouldn't sleep.  So, I went to the kitchen, and got a binky.

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.

I got sleep that night.
But I found out that breaking Cohen of the binky the second-time around would be far worse!
Now, he knew where the binky's were hidden.  He'd stand underneath the cupboard, and cry.  OK, actually, HE'D scream, for a binky.  He can speak a lot better now.  And he would hound me for a binky.

For an entire month, he was back on the binky.

It took a lot more work this time, to get him "off" the binky.
A lot more crying at nap, and bedtime.
But I finally managed it.  Again.

And then....  Two days after Cohen had "forgotten" about the binky he got a cold.
Nick was at home.  And Cohen wasn't sleeping.
So, Nick gave him.  Yes.   A binky.

I took that sucker out of Cohens mouth so fast, the next morning!
I'm not going through this a 3rd time.

Gender Reveal Party

Everyone is so excited that my brother, Brian, and his wife, Jenny, will be welcoming a new little bundle this spring!  They've been married for 6 years.
They've been the "fun" Aunt and Uncle for a long time.

I can't wait to teach their child all of the antics, that Brian has passed along to my kids (think, wet-willy's).

Seriously though, welcoming a new baby is always a reason to celebrate.

Jenny put together a gender-reveal party.
At the beginning of the party she had all of the guests pick out a baby rattle in either: blue, or pink.  Depending on which gender they thought the baby was.

I picked a blue rattle.  I was the only female of the group that did.

Then, a pinata was set up.
The kids got to take turns hitting the pinata.

Everyone took a turn.  Except Elsa.  She didn't want to hit the pinata.
Reagan, on the other hand, got REALLY in to it!

Toward the end, Jenny took a turn, and a single piece of blue taffy came flying out of the pinata.
It's a Boy!

The kids kept-at hitting the pinata, and they all went home with a large haul of blue taffy and chocolate coins.

Staycation.

When we went on vacation to Seattle, in October, we earned enough stays at Marriott Hotels to be "Elite".  Since that happened, I've been getting promotions to earn free nights, and we earn bonus Marriott points.  It's kind of nice.
The winter promotion was: stay two nights, get one night free.  You could earn up to 2 free nights.
We needed one more stay, to earn a second "free" night.
So, I used Nick's corporate discount to get a cheap-o rate at the Fairfield Inn, in Layton.  We decided to have a stay-cation.

Reagan kept insisting that she wanted to eat at Red Lobster.  I didn't fight it, because Brian and Jenny gave us a Red Lobster gift card for Christmas, so dinner would be free.
It's where we ended up going for dinner to start off our staycation.
There was a 15 minute wait, to be seated.  The kids loved watching the lobsters, in the tank.  And everyone ate what they ordered.  So, I'd deem it a success.

Then, we drove over to the hotel.  It's the first time I've ever stayed at the Fairfield Inn brand, of Marriott hotels.  And it'll probably be the last...
I knew it was "low man on the totem pole", of all the Marriott brands.  But, I just didn't realize the difference in quality would be so drastic compared to, say, a Courtyard.

The kids were happy, and that's what matters most.
Any time they get to go swimming, they are happy.
We swam, a lot, while we were there.

 

When we first got to the hotel, it was deserted.  We had the pool all to ourselves.
Then, a bus unloaded a large group of high-school wrestlers.
They headed straight to the pool, too.  And things got very rowdy, very quickly.

We packed up our kids, and headed for the room, round about the time swim trunks started coming off, and were flying through the air.

I requested a room on a high floor.  They put us on the top floor.
I thought that all of the wrestlers were assigned rooms on the 1st floor.  So, I thought we wouldn't see them for the rest of the night.
Oh boy, was I wrong.
After the kids had bathed, I left the room to get some bottled water at the vending machine.

I opened the door to our room, and right there, on the floor was a pair of boxers....
I stepped out in to the hall, and out of the corner of my eye, saw two naked teenage boys streaking down the hall.

Whatever.  I was a teenager once too.  I was trying not to be too uptight.  But seriously?!
I mentioned it to the front desk.  I wasn't the only one.  Another Mom was speaking to the desk clerk, because the wrestlers were mooning each other, in front of her 6 year old daughter.  That Mom asked to be moved to a floor that was "wrestler-free".  Apparently, there were so many high-schoolers staying at the hotel, that they needed more rooms than just the ones on the first floor.  Lucky us.

The next morning, I told Nick that we needed to get to breakfast early, before those boys hit the buffet like a swarm of locust.
We did eat early.  But fortunately, the boys had weigh-in that morning, so they weren't going to eat until after the stood on the scales.  So, the food shortage didn't start until later in the AM.

The thing that killed me, was that I didn't see a single adult chaperon, for those boys!
The coach made an appearance the next morning.  I saw him speaking to the hotel manager.  And she was really brown-nosing that guy.  At first I was annoyed.  But when I thought about it, I realized that the hotel probably made a boatload of money off of that wrestling team.
Lesson learned.
If the rate is super-cheap, the hotel will attract deal-seekers.

I just got the spring promotion, from Marriott.  And again, we'll need to stay somewhere cheap for a night, to earn a free night.  I can tell you right now, that we won't be going back to the Layton Fairfield Inn :)
I'm open to suggestions about other affordable Marriott properties.

I snapped this picture of my handsome boy sitting under the sink at the hotel:

He has learned to squeeze in to a small space, when he get possession of an electronic device.  If the girls can't find him, or squeeze in next to him, they won't be able to take the phone, or ipad away from him.  What a smartie!

2014.

Here goes.  I've committed to another year of  blogging.

On New Year's Day, I took Reagan and Elsa to see Frozen.  Again.  Elsa is OBSESSED with that movie.  And I have no problem indulging her.  Elsa's character, in Frozen is probably my most favorite Disney character now.

I've had to laugh.  Since the movie came out, there have been several times when I've been in public with Elsa, and if I say her name loud enough for other people to hear, inevitably, I get a comment about my Elsa having the same name as the Frozen character.  Mostly, the comments come from other little girls.  It's obvious they wish their name was Elsa.  It's great.

So, the second time we saw it, Reagan's friend Evia came with us.  They didn't want me to take their picture near the Frozen poster.

Later in the week, I took Elsa shopping with me.  She is getting to be my favorite shopping buddy.  I thank God every day, for sending me such an easygoing, happy child. Most of the time.  The other day, I told my Mom that Elsa is either my easiest child, or my most difficult child, BY A LARGE MARGIN.

Anyway, on our shopping day, she was her usual angel self.
We went to a lot of stores.
By the time we made it to the mall, she had zonked out.

I really hit a home-run with Elsa's "big" Christmas present.  Cuddles the monkey has been her new best friend.  She takes that ape everywhere.

She's also started a music class, with some of the other girls from our neighborhood, and she's still going to pre-school.  She loves being social.
One evening she was walking around the house talking to no-one.  Or, so I thought.  She walked in to the room where I was sitting and introduced me to her two "invisible friends" Brunella, and Bubbles.  Oh boy.  I need to set up some play-dates with real, live playmates.  Too bad, there aren't many children in our neighborhood, her age.
I'm really going to have to do better by my blonde-haired baby.  Especially this summer, when she doesn't have preschool, or music class!

Happy New Year?

On 12/30 we took the kids down to the elementary school and we went sledding.  I didn't take my camera, but I wish I would have.  We had so much fun!

Elsa shocked Nick and me.  That girl was a sledding maniac!  We were there for two hours.  Cohen went down the hill a handful of times, but was more content to wander around at the top of the hill.  Toward the end of our time there, Reagan had a meltdown.  She wanted to go really fast over some of the "jumps", but she wasn't being successful at it.

It was obvious that it was time to leave.  I told Elsa that she could go down the hill one more time, and then we were going to head home.  She was OK with this.  You can reason with Elsa, and to some extent: Cohen too.

But most of the time, there's no reasoning with Reagan.

Nick ended up carrying a crying/screaming Reagan home.  I brought up the rear with Cohen, Elsa and all our gear.

For as tough as things sometimes are, we still have fun as a family.  And if it snows again soon, I'd happily take the kids sledding again.

So, New Year's Eve.  I'm mostly doing this post so that my posts for 2013 number: 58.  I did 58 blog posts in both 2012, and 2013.  I'm anal like that.

New Year's Eve Day, my Mom came over in the morning, and Nick and I went out and ran some errands.  When we got home, we took the kids to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.

Nick left for work around 2PM.

I had a mountain of laundry to conquer.  No better time to start, than the present.

At one point, Kelli texted me to see if we wanted to meet up, and do something to ring in the New Year with her and Josh?  It bummed me out to have to tell her that Nick was working, so I was hanging out at home.  Raincheck.

Shortly in to folding my second batch of laundry, Reagan ran in to the room and told me that Elsa and Cohen were at it again!  Coloring on walls: 

I hustled those two kids out of the room, that was now COVERED in pen.  Elsa tried to tell me that she hadn't colored on the walls.  But last time I checked Cohen couldn't write letter E's, X's, and O's.  And nearly half of the scribbles on the wall(s) were made up of those letters.  Sorry, Elsa.  I KNOW you were a culprit.
I gave them my iPhone to play with, in hopes that it'd buy me some time to do some more folding.
I went back to laundry.
And the two devils went back to being naughty.
Next, I caught them in the guest-room.  They had emptied the linen chest, and were playing under the covers in the bed.

While I put that room back together (for the second time that day), those two insisted on trying my patience, and testing whether I'd let them live to see 2014.

I heard them turn on the water in the downstairs guest bathroom.  I assumed they were playing in the sink.
Well, we all know what happens when you ass-u-me...
They were playing in the shower.  Fully clothed.
Apparently, Cohen has taught Elsa some of his tricks:

I figured that would count as their evening bath.  I put them in PJ's and sent them to bed.

After this, I realized that my iPhone was missing.  I tried to use the iPad to locate it, but the battery on my phone was dead, so I was going to have to hunt for it without help.

I spent the next 2 hours searching high and low, in my house, for that darn phone.

It turned up underneath the bed in the guest room.  Under box that was stored beneath the bed.  My guess? That Elsa dropped the phone on the floor when the battery died, and then Cohen kicked it under the bed.

I fell asleep around 10:30PM, and that's probably the closest to midnight, that I've made it in quite a while.

2013 has been like any other year.  Lots of ups and downs.

My family may frustrate me sometimes.  But there's no one else I'd rather spend the next year with.

Nick, Reagan, Elsa, &; Cohen: you are the best things that ever happened to me.  I am so lucky to have you.

On to 2014!

De Ja Vu: San Francisco.

Back in 2009, Nick, Reagan, Nick's parents, and I took off for San Francisco on December 26th.  In my blog post about that trip, I told myself never to do that again!  Because, travelling the day after Christmas was hectic.

Precisely, 4 years later I disregarded my own advice.

BYU was invited to play in the Kraft/Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco.  Nick and I talked a little bit about going...  But when it was announced that the University of Washington would be BYU's opponent, the discussion was over.  We were San Francisco bound.

And we left, of course, the day after Christmas!

Nick's little brother, Nate, came with us.
Nick had to work until 2PM on 12/26, so we hit the road around 3PM.  We ate at, Luciano's, a decent Italian restaurant in Elko, NV.  We rolled in to Reno around 10PM, and stayed at a Courtyard hotel for the night.

In the morning, I met up with my long-time friend, Tierney.  We had breakfast at Peg's Glorified Ham N' Eggs.
Our visit was enjoyable.  That girl still cracks me up.  And her little boy is so handsome!

After bfast, we finished our drive to San Francisco.  We arrived around 2PM, and I called our hotel to see if we could get an early check-in?  They said, No.
It always makes me wonder if being Marriott Elite is really worth anything?  I don't really think it is.  But it is nice to earn Marriott points, and get free night stays.  And I never have to worry about staying in a Marriott hotel, because they are all smoke-free, and fairly high-quality.

So, we decided to mill around the city for a few hours, before gametime.

When we vacationed in San Francisco in 2009, I was newly pregnant with Elsa, and was nauseated the entire trip.  There were a couple restaurants I had been eagerly anticipating dining at, that we never made it to.

This time I was determined!  I was dying to eat at Mama's, and The Stinking Rose.
Our first stop, in the city was Mama's.  I had heard that toward the end of their business day, they weren't very busy.  So, we got there at 2:15PM.  Mama's closes at 3PM.  And the infamous long line to get one of their 7 tables was firmly intact.  I stood in line there, while Nick and Nate headed down the street to see what the wait was at Tony's Pizza Napoletana.  After 30 minutes it was abundantly clear to me, that I wasn't going to be eating at Mama's.
Nick texted me that the wait time at Tony's was 90 minutes.

I was crushed.

My consolation was that: the Stinking Rose didn't look too busy.  But then Nate veto'ed it.  Apparently, he doesn't like garlic.

So, we ended up wandering around Chinatown.  We were all starving.  We found a hole-in-the-wall restaurant called: Yummy Yummy.  Nate put his Chinese to use, and ordered us lunch.  He said the food was pretty authentic (Nate served an LDS mission in Hong Kong).
Everywhere we went, seemed to accept "Cash Only" as payment, and this restaurant was no exception.

I purchased some souvenirs, and then we started to walk back to where we had parked our car in Little Italy.

Along the way, we ducked in to one of the (many) bakeries in the area.  Mara's.  Cash only.  And $35 for 4 pastries.  I wouldn't go back.

We started our drive to the stadium for the game.
It was a good thing that Nate came with us.  He did all of the city driving, and I truly think it saved our marriage.
Nick loathes driving in big cities.  He gets uncharacteristically ornery when he has to drive in traffic-filled metropolis'.
That evening, it took us close to an hour to drive a few miles downtown.

The football game was at AT&T park, where the SF Giants play.
It's a great baseball venue.  But football?  Not so much.
I far prefer the intimacy that football stadiums provide. At AT&T park all of the fans were spread out.  We couldn't hear the band.  And we couldn't see the cheerleaders.

But the views were fantastic!

Nick cheered for the Huskies.  And Nate and I cheered for the Cougars.  Well, kind-of cheered for the Cougars.  At the end of the game, I told Nick that I was glad there was a 9 month break from BYU football, because if I saw Anae call one more draw play, I was going to loose my mind!

By the 3rd quarter I was begging to leave.  BYU's special team's performance was dismal.  It was frustrating to watch.  Plus, I was exhausted (I woke up early that morning, and ran on the hotel treadmill).  Nick and Nate wanted to stay.  So, I pulled on the fleece-lined BYU poncho that Nick's Mom bought me for Christmas, snuggled up next to Nick, and pretty much napped for the final quarter.

I'm not sad that we went.  And Nate bought the tickets to the football game, so I can't complain about paying for tickets to a football game that ended up being a bust.
It was nice to spend time with this guy:

And I am always game to travel.

I had wanted my Mom to watch my kids while we were gone.  But my Dad ended up needing to have surgery to fix arteries/veins in his legs on Dec. 26th; and having 3 little ones running around their house was NOT what the doctor ordered.

Not enough time has passed, since March, when Nick and I left the kids with Heather and went to Seattle.  That weekend all of the kids ended up with the throw-ups at Heather's house.  Heather hasn't forgotten it.  Yet...  She wasn't keen on re-living the experience.  And I can't say I blame her.

So, Nick's Mom was ridiculously gracious; and cared for my children the three days that we were gone.  I was very grateful.

Oh, and one last picture.  You know, it's right here; since blogger is a P.O.S. and won't let me arrange pictures in the order that I'd like.
On the way to San Francisco, I asked Nick to pull over, so that I could  take a picture under this sign:

There's a town in Nevada, called Imlay.  Imlay is my maiden name, and my pioneer ancestors settled this tiny place.  It used to have a post office.  But I think it closed a few years ago.

If the past is any indication, I won't heed my own advice.  But these are my suggestions, if we ever do a similar trip:
#1- Take a fuel efficient vehicle.  We took my SUV, just in case we ran in to any bad weather around Donner Pass.  We made many a stop at gas stations, to fill up.  And taking my car was totally unnecessary.  We should have used Nate's Sedan, or Nick's Mini Cooper.  They would have been better choices to drive around San Francisco too.
#2- Pay the extra and stay at a hotel in the city.  We stayed at a Courtyard out by the San Francisco airport.  The rooms were noisy, and it added drive-time on to our schedule.

We did the drive home in one-shot.  I didn't mind 10 hours in the car.  But I don't mind road trips, in general.
I'd do it again.  But I'd probably take my kids, next time.  It's so hard to be away from them.  When I got home, I picked up Cohen, and he started sobbing.  He put his head on my shoulder, and had a death-grip on me.  I shed a tear or two, as well.
As much as I love to vacation.  I love the three little faces of my children more.

Christmas 2013

Christmas is so much more fun with kids!  I spent hours wrapping presents.  While I wrapped, Elsa sat with me and we watched movies on the Disney channel.

December 23 was a great day for Reagan.  She was a delight, the entire day!  Christmas Eve Day was another story.  Reagan had a BAD day.

We ended up sending her to bed at 6PM on Christmas Eve.

Elsa and Cohen posed for me in their Christmas PJ's.  And then we all went to bed.

The next morning Reagan woke up bright and early.  I don't think she remembered that it was Christmas, which is shocking, because that girl has a mind like a steel trap!  I steered her from her bedroom, to my bedroom, and she contentedly played with the iPad for an hour.  Oblivious, to the Christmas gifts in the living room.
Around 7:45AM, we went in to wake up Cohen & Elsa:

Then, the fun started!  We opened stockings, and presents.  Everyone was happy.
Santa brought Reagan, Toothless, the dragon that was supposed to shoot steam and a blue light out of it's mouth.  The only problem was that the dragon leaked water; and the day after Christmas the tail broke clean off.  It ended up going back to Toys R Us.
Santa brought Elsa a Cuddles the Monkey.  She is in LOVE with that toy.  She sleeps with it every night.

Cohen is lucky that Sants didn't bring him a piece of coal.

That boy's handsome face, and mischievous grin melt Santa's heart.  So, Santa brought Cohen one of those giant Imaginex dinosaurs.  It's actually pretty cool.

We had a leisurely morning of eating glazed donuts, and playing with toys.  Then, we headed to my Mom's house for lunch, and more present-opening.
In this picture, my Mom is holding cuddles.  Because Elsa insisted that someone "babysit" Cuddles, when she wasn't busy playing with that monkey. Also pictured is the gift that I gave Lance for Christmas.  For his birthday, Lance got a University of Utah jersey, from his paternal grandpa.  He would wear it all of the time.  His UofU jersey was generic.  So, I had a specialized BYU jersey made for him.  It has his last name on the back, and I asked them to put the #14 on it.  I was thrilled when Lance immediately put the Jersey on, over his clothes.

Cohen and Braedon are turning in to the bash brothers.  The messes these two make are epic. Double-Trouble.

Nick surprised me with an amazing Christmas gift.  He was so sneaky.  He went to Morgan jewelers and purchased some diamond earrings for me:

I never saw it coming!  What an amazing husband!

We left my Mom's house; and headed home to get dinner ready for Nick's family that was coming over.  As always, Cohen was directly behind me undoing all of the cleaning/set-up I did:

 He's such a cute little booger.

We finished off the evening opening even more presents.  Nick's Mom managed to find maxi skirts for Reagan.  Thank goodness.  They are the clothing choice that Reagan wants to wear every day.

We were having spaghetti for dinner.  #1-because it is easy to unthaw a batch of my grandma's spaghetti sauce.  #2- because nothing beats my grandma's recipe for spaghetti sauce.  That stuff is delicious!

I wanted to set a nice table for the occasion.  In addition to a table cloth, and centerpiece.  I also pulled out my Grandma's wedding china, and my Mom's wedding crystal.

It was one of the best Christmas' I can remember.